Dental Software Efficacy: Does the Size of Your Business Matter?

Electronic health records (EHR) systems are still relatively new – especially when compared to the traditional pen and paper that have been the staple of medical offices for centuries. In spite of increasing nationwide adoption, many people still harbor false assumptions and mistaken notions regarding the implementation and efficiency of electronic dental record (EDR) systems.

Perhaps one of the most common is a perception that larger institutions benefit more from EDR use than solo or small private practices. Many doctors mistakenly feel that using dental software would only slow them down and that the benefits can only be reaped by large hospitals that have the requisite financial resources. Although this might have been the case in the beginning, the EDR industry has matured to the point where many different options exist to cater to the unique demands of different medical clinics.

There are many EDR products that cater exclusively to a particular specialization, just as there are vendors who target a specific subcategory such as solo practices or multi-speciality clinics. There are comprehensive software suites available for practices that have substantial IT budgets as well as more economical modular options for clinics that don’t. Similarly, the emergence of cloud software that delivers EDR as a service has meant that smaller clinics do not have to invest substantial capital to upgrade hardware or purchase software licenses which was the case previously.

For instance a small clinic that wants to participate in the meaningful use program can simply purchase the necessary modules without having to implement a full-fledged EHR, practice and patient management system. On the other hand, a large hospital with a dedicated IT department can choose to purchase on premise software that comes with extensive maintenance contracts to ensure prompt technical and customer support.

Given the range of options that exist in the dental software industry, it is simply a matter of selecting the right alternative to suit the needs of a particular clinic. The size of the practice does not actually matter when it comes to dental software efficacy since different clinics have distinct resources and advantages available to them. While larger clinics do have bigger budgets, smaller practices have other benefits like smaller teams that may need less training, less paperwork and bureaucracy etc.

Dovetail dental software is a software product that caters exclusively to dental clinics. Not only is it cloud-based, but it was designed in collaboration with practicing dentists so to reduce the learning curve. This means that users can quickly get started with the software with only minimal training.